An Honor
by make-each-day-count
Summary: What the hell was going on? I had never seen Lily like this. Sure, I had been on the receiving end of her infamous temper more times than I could count with all of my fingers and toes. But never, in my almost seven years of knowing her, had I seen her this upset.


**A/N: Hey, here's a a crappy, unedited one-shot that I wrote in literally half an hour. But I wanted to upload something because today is my first day of summer! If you see a mistake feel free to tell me and I'll gladly fix it! Leave a review if you'd like :) Happy summer, and feel free to check out my other fics, they're better than this one, trust me ;)**

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**Diclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, no matter how much I admire her.**

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Lily Evans is not one to make a scene. So when she stormed into the Head's Common Room that she shares with yours truly, I was surprised to see her stomping around and huffing, before ultimately deciding to kick the bookshelf that held her beloved novels and stories.

What the hell was going on? I had never seen Lily like this. Sure, I had been on the receiving end of her infamous temper more times than I could count with all of my fingers and toes, and had seen her cry when she had broken her leg in third year when Sirius challenged her to stand by the Whomping Willow for thirty seconds straight.

But never, in my almost seven years of knowing her, had I seen her _this_ upset.

I felt my body swell with worry. Lily Evans was hard to crack. She didn't break easily, something I admired about her. But she hadn't seen me sitting on the cozy chair we always fought over for the right to sit in, and I wondered how many times Lily had broken down like this when no one was around. That thought worried me even more.

I had to cheer her up; Lily didn't deserve even the smallest bit of unhappiness, ever.

"Oi, Evans, thought you loved that bookshelf." I said in a quiet voice, trying not to startle her or upset her even more.

She whipped her head up to look at me, her beautifully green eyes rimmed with red and shining, somehow making the bright emerald even more vibrant. She opened her mouth, then closed it, and opened it again, before finally stuttering, "Oh-oh Merlin, James. I-I ha-had no idea you were in here. I-I'm so sorry!"

She moved to get up, and began walking toward her room, sniffling and wiping her eyes to no avail, for more tears were already streaming down her face again.

"Where do you think you're going?" I said, in my gentlest voice.

"My room." She said, her back turned to me, and her voice shaky.

"Why don't you come sit with me and tell me what's wrong." I said, discreetly crossing my fingers in hopes that she would actually agree with me for once. I heard her sigh, before crossing the room and squeezing into the cozy chair next to me. It was a tight squeeze, but I didn't mind. Any chance to be close to Lily was always happily embraced.

I put my arm around her shoulders, and she put her head on my shoulder, much to my surprise and delight.

"Lily, what's wrong, love?" I said, stroking her long, red hair.

Her eyes welled with fresh tears, and she buried her face into my shoulder, her smeared mascara staining my shirt. She just sobbed, and didn't say anything for a long while, before I noticed she was holding a piece of crumpled parchment in her fist tightly.

"Lils, what's the piece of paper for?"

Her sobs became louder and more furious.

"That's what upset you, isn't it?"

She nodded her head, and I took her hand in mine, loosening her hold on the parchment one finger at a time before I finally had it out of her grip. I smoothed the parchment out and began to read the single sentence written in neat cursive.

_You are NOT my sister, you freak._

I looked at Lily in disbelief. She had told me her relationship with her sister was strained, but I never knew it was _that_ bad.

"Blimey Lily…" I said, not sure how to start, but was cut off when she finally found the courage to talk.

"I wrote to congratulate her because she got engaged. My mum told me, of course. Petunia doesn't ever tell me anything. My mum made her invite me to the wedding, much to her dismay. She wants nothing to do with me, and sent this today." She cried, burying her face in my chest. She was on my lap now, and I was hugging her tightly, my chin resting on the top of her head.

Yes, I realize normally friends don't do this to comfort each other, but Lily and I have always been more than friends… I don't really know what we are, to be honest. Somewhere in the middle; in a rut.

"Lily, look at me." I said, voice sweet as Honeyduke's finest.

She looked me in the eyes, the sadness and desperation so evident that it pained me to stare right back at her.

"Lily, you are one crazy bird, I'll say that," I chuckled, and she cracked a small smile, "But you are far from a freak. You're the best person I know. Kind, compassionate, funny as hell. Your sister is blind if she can't see that, because everyone that knows you would agree with me in a heartbeat." I said, my face heating up as I tried to gain the courage to say something bold, but lost it as she looked at me brightly, the sadness not as obvious, but still there in her eyes.

"Even Sirius?" She teased, laughing lightly.

"Especially Sirius." I said, chuckling.

We sat there for a while, her on my lap with my arms wound around her, laughing and joking until the sadness in her eyes was completely gone. After Merlin knows how long, she yawned, and I realized how tired she must be after such a stressful day.

"Tired?"

"Yeah, I think I'm going to call it a night." She said, climbing off of my lap and stretching.

"Alright Lils, goodnight." I said, standing up as well for some odd reason.

She walked to her room, and shut the door gently behind her.

I sighed. Merlin, that girl was perfect and she didn't even realize it.

About an hour later, I heard Lily's door open and close quietly and heard her soft footsteps approach me, and then there was Lily, in her pajamas with messy bed head, looking as beautiful as ever. I cocked an eyebrow at her and she smiled softly.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Too much on your mind, huh?" I inquired, mentally berating myself for not cheering her up enough.

"Well, yes…" she started, and seeing my worried expression quickly continued, "No, no, no, not that! Other things… can I ask you a question, James?" She said suddenly.

"Err, yeah, of course." I said hesitantly, not knowing what to expect.

"Will you be my date to Petunia's wedding?" She said, looking down at her feet and playing with her hands.

I couldn't help the grin that appeared on my face, before standing up and bowing to Lily, saying, "It would be an honor, m'lady."

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**A/N: Told you it wasn't that good... ending is bad, I know. You can review if you want, anyways, thanks for reading!**


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